Poetry Can

We’re delighted to announce that The Poetry Trust has teamed up with Wimbledon to appoint the first ‘Championships Poet’.

Throughout Wimbledon fortnight (21 June – 4 July) Matt Harvey will create a poem-a-day on all things Wimbledon, tour the airwaves and deliver impromptu live-performances to the famous Wimbledon queue. We’re sure his whimsical, perceptive, funny behind-the-scenes poems will delight tennis & poetry fans alike and introduce thousands more to the joys of volleying with words.

The announcement was made on a sunny Centre Court yesterday and has certainly lit something of a national/international media touchpaper with coverage as far and wide as Miami, Canada and Taiwan! For some coverage closer to home enjoy these links:

The Guardian: http://bit.ly/Mattharveyinguardian

BBC News: http://bit.ly/mattharveyonbbc

The Telegraph: http://bit.ly/mattharveyintelgraph

The Times: http://bit.ly/mattharveyintimes

All Matt’s poems will be viewable online and there’ll be audio podcasts – featuring Matt reading his latest verses and sharing behind-the-scene observations – via the Wimbledon and Poetry Trust websites.

Enjoy the first podcast www.thepoetrytrust.org/poetry-channel/ now as Matt explores Wimbledon, shares his excitement and reads his very first Championships poem ‘Grandest of Slams’ which you can also catch him reading as part of a short film on the The Guardian website: http://bit.ly/guardianfilm

If you enjoy Matt’s poems, you shouldn't be without your very own copy of his first (and only) collection - ‘The Hole in the Sum of My Parts’, published by and available from The Poetry Trust. It'll be a collector's item soon! www.thepoetrytrust.org/books/